Docklands

We set off looking for a beach and ended up in docklands.

In a blurred rush this morning I met Martin, had lunch and then we were off into heart of London to explore.

First stop was the British Museum. We’d parked in Bloomsbury and were heading to the Thames so a brief trip to the Asian gallery and the Great Court cut out a long walk around the grounds of the museum.

Then down to Covent Garden to catch the tube and onto East India Docks where we were looking for the floating beach with no luck. Back on the DLR to West India Docks and there it was. Smaller than we expected, fenced in with crowd control barriers and as deserted as the one Robinson Crusoe had walked on.

Luckily the bar next to the Museum of Docklands was open and the sun was shinning so we sat out for a drink or two, watching the people wandering by.

As we had got used to that it seemed a good idea to slowly walk down the South Bank to Gabriel’s Wharf, eat pizza and ice cream to the sounds of the river lapping against a much better known Thames Beach.

Give 'Em The Old Razzle Dazzle ...

“I’m a devil for fast things”, said Joanne as we stopped at the top of the big wheel.

All I could do was mutter “Hold onto the rail” in as adult a voice as I could muster and stare firmly at the horizon. Luckily once we got going it wasn’t too bad.

Today we all escaped to the steam fair to try to quell Joanne’s thirst for speed and thrills and to give me a day away from the thrill of email.

For a day which was supposed to be wet and cold it did a very good impersonation of a late summer day. Fluffy white clouds, loads of sunshine and warm.

This fair has a unique collection of Edwardian steam rides each with an amazing history. The people who run them now care for and maintain them and are happy to share the history and nuances of gallopers compared to the dobbies (horses which just go around in a circle rather than round and round and up and down) of Mr Field’s Steam Circus.

The Gallopers were reborn after the Second World War as Chair-o-planes and now happily chug away shipping young and old around at high speed. I just watched, happy for the excuse of having to video them.

Regarded as the world’s first “White Knuckle” ride, the Razzle Dazzle was built around 1908 . It is one of the earliest rides to use both rotational and tilting motion and it was from this than many of the modern rides were developed. Never a favourite with the showmen as it had to be erected on perfectly flat, hard ground and with a complex construction, only a few were made and this is the last steam driven example in the world.

After a lazy afternoon wandering around the rides, the gardens, the steam train and the traction engines (and with the added excitement of two Spitfires in a gentle mock dogfight above the Downs) we headed home for a beer at the pub, some Thai curry (so hot that it could have powered most of the rides) and the washing to remove the smuts from skin and clothes.